Modi said the UPA has not spent a single penny out of the Nirbhaya fund for the safety of women.

Nagpur |
Updated: April 4, 2014 2:47 pm

BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi launched a scathing attack on Congress at a poll rally in Chandrapur on Friday saying “Tandoor se Latur tak (from Tandoor to Latur), Congress has a history (of atrocities against women) that the country hasn’t forgotten.” He also raised the issue of a senior party leader’s alleged quid pro quo deal with Naxals for votes.

Addressing the rally for BJP candidates Hansraj Ahir and Ashok Nete from Chandrapur and Gadchiroli-Chimur constituencies respectively, Modi said her own government’s crime figures show seven of the top ten states with worst anti-women crime record are ruled by Congress. “None of those ten states is ruled by the BJP or friendly parties,” he added.

Modi raked up the issue of lady Congress worker, who was found dead after attending a party organised by former Chief Minister late Vilasrao Deshmukh’s son Amit at Latur recently. “Some Youth Congress workers were arrested by the police in the case. If women aren’t safe under your own partymen, how will you protect them from others,” Modi asked, adding, “the country hasn’t forgotten your record from Tandoor to Latur.”

Modi said the UPA has not spent a single penny out of the Nirbhaya fund for the safety of women.

Modi began his speech by referring to a newspaper report (appearing in Loksatta on Friday) that spoke of a “senior Congress leader” (Digvijay Singh) talking to Naxals for electoral support promising them that security forces would be withdrawn from Naxal areas as a return gesture.

“The Congress is trying to compromise with country’s security to secure votes. This is a very serious issue. The UPA government is divided within itself on the issue of how to deal with the Maoists,” Modi said.

“We need to give correct direction to country’s youths. We have to make the soil green not red,” he added.

He also called upon Naxals to join the democratic process.

Addressing the tribals in the rally, Modi also attacked the UPA for caring little for them. “Tribals have fought many battles for the country from Lord Ram’s time to 1857. But Congress never remembered them. It was the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government that first carved out a separate ministry for the tribals,” Modi said.

He reeled out statistics about poor allocation to schemes to groom tribal spostspersons.